CHENNAI: Three handloom centres have been selected in Tamil Nadu for implementation of the Centre's integrated cluster development scheme.

The selected centres are Uraiyur in Tiruchi, Vandavasi taluk in Tiruvannamalai district and Kurichipadi in Cuddalore district. In each cluster there will be 5,000 handlooms for which the Centre would sanction Rs. 2 crores each.

The aim of the scheme, according to handloom department sources here, is to build up the capacity of handlooms in clusters to meet the challenges of market in global competition in a sustainable and self-reliant manner.

The scheme will cover weavers both in the cooperative and in the non-cooperative sector, including those of self-help groups, NGOs, small and medium enterprises and attached weavers.

At present the major weakness of handloom weavers is that they are not ready to take any risk. They tend to produce mostly age-old designs, which are not competitive in the international markets. A majority of weavers confine themselves to production of dhotis and sarees as these products have ready market in the State, besides support from the government in the form of subsidy.

To change their mindset, periodic training would be provided to them on upgrading their technology. Assistance of professional designers and institutions would be sought to improve the design of cloth as well as for product diversification. In this connection the services of the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Chennai would be utilised for bringing out modern design and improving the productivity.

Already NIFT services were being utilised by Cooptex and other premier institutions, which were well received by customers.

Through various interventions, the weakness of the cluster would be rectified to make their products more competitive in the market. Quality human resources inputs for various functions would be provided to each cluster to an exclusive cluster based institution to which the Central Government would provide funds directly.

To improve the market, states would be encouraged to organise handloom expos at small towns to give fillip to the sale of handloom fabrics. The Centre is also planning to introduce "handloom mark " like silk mark and wool mark to ensure quality and brand identification of handloom products, the sources added.

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